How often do you clean your hunting rifle

[nwnick]

My Rem 700 loves 165 gr Partitions, but I also shoot 180 Grand Slams.
It's probably just me but I clean to bare metal whenever I change between Nosler and Speer. I don't know why I do it but it's something I started and never looked back. I never hunt with a clean barrel though, I always foul it up with 20 rounds
All my guns get taken down and cleaned before going in the safe at the end of the season, even the one's that didn't come out get a wipe down

 

[lyotehunter]

i do a light cleaning after shooting which is every week. but I shoot it before hunting or shooting the next time because the first shot is always a little off. if I am not going to shoot one gun for a while I clean it completely. when I get to my destination I shoot all the rifles I am going to hunt with to make sure they are ok and to foul the barrel.

 

[tnek13]

I clean after every shooting. I run a patch down the clean oiled barrel before hunting and an oiled patch down the barrel if II don't take a shot. I know where the shot goes from a clean barrel.

 

[Deleted member 115374]

I pull mine out before season, run a patch thru it to clean oil out of the bore from previous post season cleaning, shoot it to check zero, if it is on and I havent shot in a while I might put 10 - 12 rounds thru it to get in the "zone " - meaning breathing, trigger squeeze,stock placement on the shoulder etc.. then I hunt with it. I am a believer in hunting with a fouled barrel. I wont clean it during the season unless I am hunting in wet snowy conditions . I have had to do that a few times, if so I wont oil the barrel after cleaning and will fire a round prior to hunting with it.

 

[skipglo]

i talk to target shooters they say whenever they notice their groups growing
I also hear after every time they go out shooting
And the old timers that tought me to hunt said never go to the woods with a clean barrel. What do you do

Like everything in life....we find what works for us! Try to find 3 Doctors who agree on a subject, two lawyers, or 1 husband and one wife!

 

[Ranger1994]

I like others here used my military experience which mandated clean after every outing. Taught my sons the same thing. Years later learned about shooting dirty guns, blasphemy, my military mind was spinning out of control, I almost was freaking out. Started shooting fouled (not dirty) barrels, groups tightened up. Ummm, maybe there is something to be said about this. Even old war dogs can learn a new trick. Shoot mine fouled during hunting season, and unless we are out in a monsoon i wait, then give it a good cleaning at the end of the season.

 

[fremont]

I never take a clean rifle into the field.

 

[esshup]

I hunt with a bunch of different rifles and a few different Savage Muzzleloaders. Each gun likes something different (usually). The 7mm Allen Magnum and the .308 FN SPR are the only 2 that I've kept detailed notes on. The FN not as detailed as the Allen. I KNOW the Allen shoots 2 moa high the first shot out of a clean cold barrel, then 2nd shot and subsequent shots are all the same, whether the barrel is cold or warm (not hot). I typically will shoot the 7mm AM when first arriving for a hunt if I don't have temp/elevation dope, then leave it dirty. I have killed a coyote at 867 yds with the first shot out of a clean cold barrel after not shooting the rifle for 6 months.

Some of the rifles will have accuracy degrade after 20 shots, some take more than that. I purposely left a load in the 50 cal Savage ML for 11 months, then shot it. POI @ 200 yds. was still less than 1 moa away from POI the previous year.

So, basically I'm saying let the rifle talk to you and you need to listen.

 

[nikeandros]

i talk to target shooters they say whenever they notice their groups growing
I also hear after every time they go out shooting
And the old timers that tought me to hunt said never go to the woods with a clean barrel. What do you do

i do a lot of target shooting..i clean my barrel every 40 50 shots. and during hunting season I prefer to leave it dirty after 20 shot . like that i know the performance of the last shots.. and i clean the barrel after my hunting..
i tfus
t my rifles anyways. and i know that even well cleaned the first shot is always bull eye... anyways.. is preferable to don't clean the barrel before hunting.. but you don't want to much copper build up in your arrel.. that's why . a leave it dirty after 20 max 2p shots..

 

[Brad615]

Sorry that I'm jumping in on this thread, I tried to start a new thread but I'm new to forums & don't know why I'm doing! So anyone who can help? I have a 260 rem that is blued & when cleaning the barrel I'm getting what looks like a plastic residue on the patches, almost looks like the blueing is coming off which I'm assuming is from the chamber. After some patches it seems to slow down & actually comes to a stop after some dry patches but when I use a nylon brush or even another wet patch it happens again. Anyone have this happen to them?
Thanks, Brad.

 

[Mikecr]

I put away guns cleaner than I pull them. That's what I was taught.
What the old timers should have said was don't go hunting -with any oil in the bore.
That oil has to be burned out of the bore for stable fouling to take.

To remove this issue, I take bores to white metal clean, wash with alcohol, and then dry pre-foul with a burnishing of Tungsten (WS2). This is the state with which I put guns back in the safe, ready for use. The first shot will be as good as any to follow.

 

[skipglo]

Sorry that I'm jumping in on this thread, I tried to start a new thread but I'm new to forums & don't know why I'm doing! So anyone who can help? I have a 260 rem that is blued & when cleaning the barrel I'm getting what looks like a plastic residue on the patches, almost looks like the blueing is coming off which I'm assuming is from the chamber. After some patches it seems to slow down & actually comes to a stop after some dry patches but when I use a nylon brush or even another wet patch it happens again. Anyone have this happen to them?
Thanks, Brad.

The blue you see is probably copper reacting with the cleaner

 

[Maol]

All my girls have dirty little holes when I take them steppin' out.

20 and a dry wipe. Never bare metal. Oil to sit. Dry to shoot. Copper isn't as bad as a carbon ring.

Get more aggressive about when accuracy goes away.

 

[Brad615]

The blue you see is probably copper reacting with the cleaner

This is a plastic substance

The blue you see is probably copper reacting with the cleaner

Thanks, I should also mention that it has a plastic feel to it. I can actually pile the stuff up, it's definitely a plastic material & not a liquid?